Do Mirrors Lie?

• Harshitha Meenakshisundaram, Grade 6
• Poetry
• 2018

I step on the scale
Behind me, a clock ticks
Slowly, I inhale
Waiting for the verdict
Years I have abstained
Ignoring the hunger
I console myself; for beauty is pain
But how much longer?
Why can’t I step on a scale
Like everybody else?
Like the girl filing her nails
So confident of herself?
Numbers don’t lie
The scale says I’m thinner
But does this justify
The pig in the mirror?